Word of mouth has made and killed many a business and many a musician. This particular release is the stuff legends are made of, not to mention one of the best all musical discs floating around in cyber space. The jazz family tree is large with an expansive and firmly anchored root system and it is the exploration of an artist and their roots that can allow a work to grow stronger and blossom years after its initial release or die a quick and relatively painless death of shelf life ambivalence.
If all the critical buzz words were to ever fit one release perfectly, Last Stand At The Havemeyer Ranch (Cotton's nickname for his former residence )may be the release. Raw, organic and my personal favorite that has been done to death - "amazing." What is in fact, amazing is that this collection of root oriented jazz soul is more spontaneous than rehearsed. Two words were the rule: roll tape. Wynton Marsalis often speaks in abject clinical terms on "roots music" and while from a purely academic standpoint Marsalis is untouchable - the musicians that make up Last Stand At The Havemeyer Ranch are not playing "roots music" these are people living it and this is what separates academia from passion when it comes to music in general and jazz to be specific.
What is a great record without a compelling back story? While in the midst of a less than amiable eviction thanks to some overly zealous real estate developers, bassist/producer/composer Cotton found himself making use of the precious little time he had left by utilizing his apartment as a make shift recording studio and in the open improvisational spirit of the iconic Miles Davis "Bitches Brew" this was more an extended session that was made up of reggae, Afro-Cuban and more traditional rhythm and blues all laced with tremendous jazz sensibilities from Brooklyn's finest.
Thanks to the open-ended concept of recording, the tunes began to develop their own organic pulse as evidenced by the opening horn laced "Redux" which is a more improvisational jazz exploratory. "Early In The Morning" with vocalist Mayteana Morales is beatnik jazz brought up to speed with a harmonic soul. A "souled-out" reggae "Shit Rock" combines an infectious lyrical quality with jazz sensibilities.
Last Stand At The Havemeyer smolders well past "last call" with furious burst of sonic fire that contain bursts of jazz, blues, house and even bluegrass and Celtic influences. The real and true hybridization of jazz growing organically without aid of professional studios, label executives or commercial pressure.
Jazz purists will argue that because of the occasional if not eclectic mix of styles and genres that this is not jazz in the truest and purest sense of the word.
Based on that stellar logic, Norah Jones is not jazz either so next case please.
Tracks: Redux; Early in the Morning; The Prophet has Arise; Slow Reggie; Don't Let it Get to You; C Minor Reggie; Gunga Din; Shit Rock; Ougadougou; Macallan's Waltz.
Personnel: Andy Cotton: bass, guitar (7); Yuval Lion: drums; Matt Ray: keyboards (1, 4-10); Nico Georis: keyboards (2); Borahin Lee: keyboards (3); Kris bauman: tenor sax; Avishai Cohen: trumpet; Mayteana Morales: vocals (2); Chauncey Yearwood: vocals (5); Brian J: guitar (5, 6), vocal (6); John Lee: guitar (3); Trip Henderson: harmonica; Elizabeth Dotson-Westphalian: trombone; Alicia Joe Rabins: fiddle; Rob Hecht: fiddle; Luz Fleming: bass clarinet.
To check it out please click the link below! There is another review of Andy Cotton's latest in the works!
http://cotton.bandcamp.com/album/last-stand-at-the-havemeyer-ranch*
To check it out please click the link below! There is another review of Andy Cotton's latest in the works!
http://cotton.bandcamp.com/
